Bomb-sniffing Cyborg Locusts One Step Closer to Reality
“Now we can implant the electrodes, seal the locust and transport them to mobile environments”
St. Louis, USA —
A locust with a brain sensor implant. Credit: Raman Lab
The world is one step closer to bomb-sniffing cyborg locusts.
Research from Washington University in St. Louis has shown that scientist have the ability to control locusts and the ability to read their brains, deciphering what it is that they are smelling. All this leading researchers to thinking they can make cyborg-locusts that can sniff bombs.
The work is headed by Barani Raman, a professor of biomedical engineering. Raman and his team were able to develop a biorobotic sensing system that could detect the locusts’ active neurons and analyze information in a way that told the researchers about the smells the locusts were sensing.
Using this knowledge, the researchers were able to loo for similar patterns when they exposed locusts to vapors of TNT, DNT, RDX, PETN, and ammonium nitrate.
Will cyborg-locusts save us from bombs in the future?
“Most surprisingly, we could clearly see the neurons responded differently to TNT and DNT, as well as these other explosive vapors,” Raman said.
The research is farther along than readers might think. According to Raman, “now we can implant the electrodes, seal the locusts and transport them to mobile environments.
The team hopes their research can be used to find explosives for national security.
“This is not that different from in the old days, when coal miners used canaries,” Raman continued. “People use pigs for finding truffles. It’s a similar approach —using a biological organism — this is just a bit more sophisticated.”
Raman and team do not have a date on finishing their project but data analysis has led them to continue their research unhindered.
